Olympic marathon contingency plan in place

Beijing Olympics organisers said yesterday they had a contingency plan for the marathon should pollution force a rescheduling or a postponement of the Games' final athletics competition.

The men's marathon is run on the last day of the Games on August 24 and with pollution in the city remaining a major problem days before the Games start, there have been concerns the Olympics would need to be extended if the event was rescheduled.

The International Olympic Committee has said it may reschedule events that require physical activity of more than an hour if pollution is bad on the day. The women's marathon is to be held on Sunday, August 17.

Beijing organisers said whatever the change may be - and they declined to reveal what the contingency plan was - all competition would be finished by August 24 and the Games would not be extended for any sport.

Most observers believe the plan would be to take the race to another, less polluted Chinese city.

The city's chronic pollution has been one of the biggest worries for Games organisers, who have faced international criticism over air quality as they struggle to contain the environmental effects of China's economic growth.

Several athletes have expressed concern over ability to perform well in Beijing and Ethiopia's twice-Olympic 10,000 metres champion Haile Gebrselassie has pulled out of the marathon event for fear of damaging his health.

On Thursday, China announced a slew of emergency measures in and around Beijing in case air pollution remains poor during the Olympics, including taking more cars off the roads and slashing production at more than 220 factories.